Hotel Florence Historical Palace • Hotel Bretagna

Palace's History

The Gianfigliazzi Palace, on the Lungarno Corsini, constituted the most important nucleus of the numerous houses belonged to the homonym family up to the end of 1700.

On the elegant building crowned by an ample loggia, from 1427 during the centuries numerous restructurings were performed.
In 1818 with the extinction of the Gianfigliazzi, the building was destined to hotel with the name "Delle Quattro Nazioni".
Illustrious personalities stayed here, among them the poet Alexander Manzoni which referring to the Arno river wrote the famous sentence "in its waters I rinsed my rags".
The Palace also hosted for long periods Luigi Bonaparte King of Holland who became its owner in 1828.

Subsequently the building was acquired by Ranieri Lamporecchi, famous lawyer of the Florentine Bar.
Here was born and lived for many years his niece Virginia, the Countess of Castiglione, known for her charm as well as for her friendship with Napoleon III of France.

In 1867 the Palace was bought by the Belgian Baron Adrian Hoogworst, married with the Florentine noblewoman Aurora Guadagni, whose arrangements and furnishings made the building still more beautiful and lavish turning it into a refined residence of French taste.

Known both for the beautiful interiors and the pompous receptions, Palazzo Gianfigliazzi became one of the brightest and exclusive "salotti" in the city, quoted by Hippolite Taine in his "Voyage en Italy", as the "decoration of Florence".

After the death of the Hoogworsts the building was acquired by the family Cesaroni Venanzi and finally by Aldemiro Campodonico, lawyer, political and publicist in 1920.
Today his niece Maria, Baroness De Hagenauer, contributes to preserve the ancient shine of this prestigious Florentine palace.